Trump Map Draws Criticism Across the North Atlantic, Seen as a “Maximalist Vision”

Donald Trump’s latest map has unsettled the North Atlantic. Posted on Truth Social over the long weekend, it showed the United States stretching across North America and reaching Greenland and Iceland, wrapped in the red, white and blue of the US flag.

The post offered no explanation, but it echoed Trump’s earlier remarks about making Canada the 51st US state and his repeated musings about taking control of Greenland, the autonomous territory of Denmark.

“It is disturbing and, in many ways, completely inappropriate,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told national broadcaster DR. “It is clearly a sign that the president of the United States still harbors some kind of maximalist vision in his own mind. We have to put a stop to it.”

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It is disturbing and, in many ways, completely inappropriate.

Iceland’s foreign and defense minister, Thorgerdur Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, summoned US Ambassador Billy Long for a meeting, national broadcaster RÚV reported. Icelanders had already been alarmed when Trump mistakenly mentioned their country four times while discussing his plans for Greenland.

The episode added to unease in the Arctic states. Iceland, a NATO member located about 290 kilometers from Greenland, brought forward a referendum on whether to reopen long-stalled negotiations to join the European Union. Voters rejected that proposal on August 30. The measure had been promoted partly as a way to strengthen ties with Europe and better shield Iceland from geopolitical instability.

Thousands of Icelanders also signed a petition urging the prime minister to reject Long as ambassador after he joked earlier in the year about Iceland becoming the 52nd US state and him being appointed governor. Long apologized and took up his post in Reykjavík last month. Trump has also angered Canada with repeated statehood comments, a trade war and his recent renaming of Lake Ontario as “Lake State.”

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It is clearly a sign that the president of the United States still harbors some kind of maximalist vision in his own mind. We have to put a stop to it.